WHAT TO PLAY
Platformers
709 games in the catalog
A platformer is a game in which a character moves across solid ledges, jumps over gaps and enemies, and the player's main skill is timing the jump. The view is from the side, so gravity matters and a misjudged step means a fall. The genre grew out of early-1980s arcade games where you climbed ladders and girders and collected items. Donkey Kong in 1981 put jumping at the heart of the game, and screens soon began to stretch sideways until smooth scrolling became standard.
It has lasted because the core loop is simple enough for anyone to grasp: see an obstacle, judge the distance, jump. Yet it leaves endless room for tuning: how high the jump reaches, how the character speeds up and brakes, what happens on contact with an enemy. Each period produced its own variety, from single-screen collecting games through fast runners and action platformers to 3D worlds, metroidvanias and today's precision challenges. The genre has always adapted to whatever the hardware and controllers of the day could do.
Today (2015 onwards)
114 games in the catalogToday independent games and large studios sit side by side. Celeste (2018) was built on exact controls and showed that a hard game can offer assist options, while Hollow Knight (2017) and Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) carried the metroidvania further. Super Mario Maker (2015) put a level editor in players' hands, and Astro Bot (2024) used the PlayStation 5 controller so that jumps and surfaces can be felt in the hands. Old systems also received new games, the Mega Drive and NES for instance, made by enthusiasts who still write for that hardware.
Switch 2 Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong's first big 3D adventure in years; almost the entire world can be smashed to pieces.
PS4 Hollow Knight: Silksong
The long-awaited sequel to the cult metroidvania, this time in the role of the agile hunter Hornet.
Switch 2 Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World
An expanded edition of the first 3D Kirby, set in a melancholic world overgrown with nature.
PC Little Nightmares III
After two entries by Tarsier Studios, Supermassive Games takes over the series, the atmosphere stays intact.
Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2
The pair of Wii classics with planetoid gravity ranks among the peaks of 3D platforming ever.
PC ANIMAL WELL
A combat-free metroidvania from a solo developer; puzzles are solved with strange tools, not weapons.
PS5 Astro Bot
A joyful platformer full of short, inventive levels, each with a fresh idea of its own.
PC Contra: Operation Galuga
A modern return to the merciless run-and-gun style that Konami established back in 1987.
SNES Dottie Flowers
A fresh modern homebrew platformer from 2024, using the SNES hardware's palette to the fullest.
NES Famidash
An astonishing demake of Geometry Dash hand-written in 6502 assembly for the 8-bit NES.
PS5 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
The series returns to acrobatic platforming, this time as a full-blooded metroidvania.
NES Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland
A Rugrats platformer made with a level of care licensed games of the time rarely had.
The HD generation (2005–2014)
172 games in the catalogOnce 3D had become routine on powerful consoles, the two-dimensional platformer came back as a deliberate choice. New Super Mario Bros. (2006) on the Nintendo DS combined the classic left-to-right route with 3D models, and Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) and Rayman Origins (2011) followed. Digital distribution through Xbox Live Arcade and Steam opened the door to small teams: Braid (2008) built a game on rewinding time, Limbo (2010) on atmosphere and deadly traps. Shadow Complex (2009) showed that a metroidvania also works in 2.5D.
3DS Azure Striker Gunvolt
A spiritual successor to Mega Man Zero; instead of gunfire you tag enemies and finish them with a discharge.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Compact puzzle platforming shaped like rotating dioramas, where Toad can't even jump.
Wii U Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
One of the most challenging and best-designed 2D platformers of its time; partners change how you move.
Escape Plan Ultimate
Ultimate edice vyměnila dotykové panely Vity za páčku DualShocku a přidala 19 hádanek.
Wii U Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
Expanded edition of a luchador metroidvania with all the DLC content and more.
3DS Kirby: Triple Deluxe
For the first time, Kirby uses the depth of the 3D display - moving between the foreground and background of the scene.
Mobil Leo's Fortune
A visually gorgeous platformer about a fox searching for stolen gold; fairy-tale style.
PS3 LittleBigPlanet 3
Sumo Digital adds three new characters alongside Sackboy, each with their own ability.
PC Never Alone
Kooperativní pohádka z Aljašky vznikla ve spolupráci s Iñupiaty.
PS4 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
A complete rebuild of the 1997 Abe's Oddysee in modern 3D graphics and sound.
Vita OlliOlli
Two-dimensional skateboarding built on precise trick timing, not luck.
Vita Rogue Legacy
A roguelite where, after the hero dies, their descendant takes over the game with their own mutation.
The arrival of 3D (1995–2004)
156 games in the catalogThe arrival of the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Saturn brought three-dimensional worlds, and a new problem: where does the camera go, and how do you jump in space? Super Mario 64 (1996) answered with an analog stick and a controllable camera, and turned the level into a space to explore, where stars could be collected in any order. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro took different routes, the former with corridor-like stages, the latter with open hubs full of things to collect. Two-dimensional games did not vanish, though; they carried on on the Game Boy Color and Advance, in series such as Mega Man Zero and Sonic Advance.
Xbox Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
A platformer where you can stop, rewind, fast-forward, and replay time like on a video cassette.
PC Cave Story
Zdarma šířená mistrovská plošinovka, kterou sám naprogramoval a namaloval jeden člověk.
GBA Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage
Crash a Spyro v jedné kapesní hře, každý ve vlastní obalové verzi.
PS2 Crash Twinsanity
An attempt to push the series toward looser levels and bolder humor instead of a linear path.
GBA Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Ranked by many among the best 16-bit platformers; Dixie can fly using her ponytail.
GCN Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
A platformer controlled exclusively with the DK Bongos; clapping replaces the action button.
GBA Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Kirby with an open, interconnected map; a metroidvania flavor.
GBA Mario vs. Donkey Kong
The 1981 arcade rivalry, in a clever mix of puzzle game and platformer.
Web N
A minimalist platformer about a ninja with flawless movement physics; the predecessor to the N++ series.
PS2 Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
The third entry and the peak of the PS2 trilogy; weapons level up and change appearance and effect with use.
Java ME Rayman 3 (mobile)
A mobile platformer based on Rayman 3; a simplified but still fresh adaptation of the console game.
PS2 Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Open city levels replaced linear stages; for the first time you can play as the entire thieving trio.
8- and 16-bit (1986–1994)
207 games in the catalogWith scrolling and the sprite hardware of consoles, the platformer became a trip from left to right. Super Mario Bros. (1985) showed that a level could be long, scroll smoothly and teach the rules step by step. Bosses at the end of worlds, hidden rooms and a fixed order of worlds followed, while Mega Man let the player pick the order of stages. Metroid and, a little later, Castlevania brought larger, interconnected maps, which later grew into the metroidvania. Sonic on the Mega Drive (1991) bet on speed, and Donkey Kong Country (1994) on graphics rendered from 3D models.
MD Castlevania: Bloodlines
The only MD Castlevania; fast and stylish.
Saturn Clockwork Knight
The flagship of the Saturn's early era; its toybox atmosphere showed off the hardware's power.
SNES Demon's Crest
Dark action with Firebrand; an underrated gem.
SNES Donkey Kong Country
Pre-rendered graphics that looked impossible on a 16-bit console back in 1994.
SNES Donkey Kong Country 1–3
Pre-rendered graphics stunned the world; superb platformers.
MD Dynamite Headdy
A Treasure platformer bursting with ideas at every turn.
MD Earthworm Jim
An earthworm in a robotic suit and a cow in space; an explosion of wild 90s creativity.
MD Earthworm Jim 1 & 2
Cartoon humor and insane design; a 90s icon.
CD32 Flink
Hand-drawn graphics like an animated film; an apprentice sets out to save his masters.
MCD Heart of the Alien
A sequel to the cult classic Another World, this time from the perspective of the alien companion Buddy.
DOS Hocus Pocus
Four episodes of castles and temples, where magic projectiles fly instead of head-stomps.
CD-i Hotel Mario
A Nintendo-licensed platformer built around a single idea: closing doors.
The beginnings (until 1985)
39 games in the catalogThe first platformers were set on a single screen or a handful of fixed ones. You climbed ladders, hopped obstacles and collected items until the level was cleared. Hardware dictated this: arcade boards and home computers had little memory, so the view flipped from one screen to the next instead of scrolling smoothly. Donkey Kong (1981) made the jump the main move, Pitfall! on the Atari 2600 sent you along a long jungle route built from linked screens, and British games such as Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum turned it into collecting keys across a series of caverns. The basics were set here: ladders, traps and a limited number of lives.
ZX Cauldron
A witch on a broomstick alternates a top-down shooter with a classic platformer inside a castle.
SG Doki Doki Penguin Land
An unusual mix of platformer and puzzle; a penguin delivers a fragile egg, not itself.
NES Ice Climber
A simple yet immensely addictive vertical platformer from the dawn of the NES era.
C64 Saboteur!
A ninja's night-time break-in into a base, with an unusually open, interconnected map of buildings.
NES Super Mario Bros.
The game that saved the games industry after the '83 crash.
MAME Bomb Jack
A hero in a blue jumpsuit flies around collecting bombs against backdrops of famous world landmarks.
A800 Bounty Bob Strikes Back
Sequel to Miner 2049er; a mining platformer with dozens of screens of machinery and mutants.
ZX Bruce Lee
A ruthless action platformer full of kicks and fights against the Ninja and Yamo; it forgives almost no one.
SG Flicky
A brilliantly simple platformer about a bird leading a line of chicks to the exit.
2600 H.E.R.O.
A rescue mission in caves; one of the best games on the console.
C64 Impossible Mission
"Stay awhile, stay forever"; an acrobatic puzzle classic with digitised speech.
ZX Jet Set Willy
The sequel to Manic Miner; miner Willy tidies up a huge interconnected mansion full of rooms and traps.